Communication method, system, user equipment, base station and electronic device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method, system, user equipment, base station and electronic device, and relates to the technical field of communication. The communication method is performed by a user equipment, comprising: receiving a MAC CE sent by a base station, wherein the MAC CE comprises a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field comprises uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field; and saving the uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, system, user equipment, base station, and electronic equipment. Background Technology

[0002] In L1 / L2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) handover mechanisms, the network side instructs the terminal on uplink timing adjustment information of candidate cells through cell handover commands. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One of the technical problems this disclosure aims to solve is: how to instruct the user equipment to provide uplink timing adjustment information in scenarios where the user equipment performs handover autonomously.

[0004] According to a second aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, executed by a user equipment, comprising: receiving a Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) sent by a base station, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field being used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field including uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field; and storing the uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0005] In some embodiments, the first indication field is used to determine the identifier of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups corresponding to the second indication field.

[0006] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

[0007] In some embodiments, the maximum number is N, and in one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, the number of bits occupied by each candidate cell or each candidate cell group in the first indication field is: .

[0008] In some embodiments, the first indication field indicates via a bitmap that the second indication field carries uplink timing adjustment information for one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0009] In some embodiments, the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to bits in the bitmap that have a first value.

[0010] In some embodiments, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to an identifier for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell among multiple candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a group of candidate cells among multiple group of candidate cells.

[0011] In some embodiments, in the bitmap, each bit with a first value corresponds to a Timing Advance Command (TAC) field in the second indication field. The Timing Advance Command field carries uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to the bit.

[0012] In some embodiments, in the bitmap, multiple bits with a first value correspond to the same timing advance command field of the second indication field, and the timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups corresponding to the multiple bits.

[0013] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

[0014] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the number of bitmaps included in the first indication field and the maximum number of bitmaps.

[0015] In some embodiments, when the first indication field includes a second value, the second value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of a candidate cell or a candidate cell group; when the first indication field includes a third value, the third value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0016] In some embodiments, when the first indication field includes a fourth value, the fourth value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0017] In some embodiments, when the second value indicates that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups, the uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups included in the second indication field corresponds to the candidate cell or candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs, indicated in the message most recently received by the user equipment for early uplink synchronization.

[0018] In some embodiments, the message used for early uplink synchronization includes downlink control information sent by the network side, and the cell indication field in the downlink control information includes a candidate cell or a candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

[0019] In some embodiments, when a candidate cell or candidate cell group has multiple Timing Advance Groups (TAGs), the MAC CE further includes a third indication field for indicating the TAG information to which the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field applies.

[0020] In some embodiments, the uplink timing adjustment information includes an index value for the uplink timing advance.

[0021] In some embodiments, the MAC CE also includes a fourth indication field for byte alignment.

[0022] In some embodiments, each candidate cell group includes multiple candidate cells, and the multiple candidate cells have the same uplink timing adjustment information as the candidate cell group.

[0023] In some embodiments, where the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a candidate cell group, the MAC CE is of fixed length; or where the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups, the MAC CE is of variable length.

[0024] In some embodiments, at least one of the identifiers of candidate cells and candidate cell groups is configured by the network side through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0025] According to a second aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, performed by a base station, comprising: sending a MAC CE to a user equipment, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field being used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field including uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

[0026] According to a third aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a user equipment is provided, including: a receiving module configured to receive a MAC CE transmitted by a base station, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field being used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field including uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field; and a storage module configured to store the uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0027] According to a fourth aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a base station is provided, comprising: a transmitting module configured to transmit a MAC CE to a user equipment, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field being used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field including uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

[0028] According to a fifth aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, including: a user equipment as described above; and a base station as described above.

[0029] According to a sixth aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, including: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the communication method as described above.

[0030] According to a seventh aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the program, when executed by a processor, implements the communication method as described above.

[0031] According to an eighth aspect of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the communication method as described above.

[0032] In the communication method disclosed herein, the base station sends a MAC CE to the user equipment and indicates the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell to the user equipment through the correlation between the first indication field and the second indication field in the MAC CE, thereby providing the user with the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell in the scenario where the user equipment performs handover autonomously.

[0033] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become clear from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0034] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0035] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0036] Figure 2The MAC CE format of some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0037] Figure 3 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0038] Figure 4 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0039] Figure 5 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0040] Figure 6 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0041] Figure 7 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0042] Figure 8 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0043] Figure 9 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0044] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating a communication method according to other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0045] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0046] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of the structure of a base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0047] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0048] Figure 14 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0049] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit this disclosure or its application or use. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this disclosure without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0051] To further reduce handover latency, signaling overhead, and downtime, 3GPP introduced the LTM (Last Measuring Time) mechanism in Release 18. In LTM, the User Equipment (UE) performs Layer 1 measurements based on candidate cell configuration information set by the network and periodically reports the results. The network determines whether cell handover needs to be triggered based on the UE's reported Layer 1 measurements and instructs the UE to perform the handover process via Layer 2 signaling (MAC CE). To shorten handover latency, LTM allows the UE to send a random access preamble to the target cell in advance based on network instructions. The network can then use the Layer 2 signaling to trigger LTM handover to indicate uplink timing information, ensuring that the UE does not need to obtain uplink timing adjustment information for the target cell again through the random access procedure (RACH-LESS) during the handover process, thus reducing handover latency.

[0052] To further improve handover reliability while leveraging the low latency of the LTM mechanism, 3GPP will support Conditional LTM (CLTM) in Release 19. In CLTM, the network pre-configures decision events for the UE to evaluate and execute CLTM handover. When a candidate cell meets the execution conditions, the UE autonomously triggers the CLTM process. Advance acquisition of uplink timing adjustment information is a key feature of LTM handover in shortening handover latency; therefore, methods to support UEs in obtaining uplink timing adjustment information in advance will continue to be considered in the CLTM mechanism.

[0053] In the conventional LTM mechanism, the network can directly indicate the uplink timing adjustment information of candidate cells through cell handover commands. However, in the CLTM mechanism, the UE initiates the handover autonomously, without requiring the network to send cell handover commands. Therefore, in CLTM, it is necessary to consider how to indicate the uplink timing adjustment information of candidate cells to the user equipment. This requires researching new methods for indicating uplink timing adjustment information, enabling RACH-LESS handover during CLTM handover, avoiding the UE obtaining uplink synchronization through random access procedures, thereby shortening handover latency and improving handover performance and user experience.

[0054] Conditional Handover (CHO) also falls under the category of user equipment autonomous handover scenarios. However, the CHO mechanism lacks a process for providing uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells to the user equipment. Therefore, implementing uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells within the CHO mechanism could improve handover reliability while reducing handover latency.

[0055] Therefore, in scenarios where user equipment autonomously performs handover, providing uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells to the user equipment plays a crucial role in achieving handover and improving handover performance. Based on this, this disclosure provides a communication method involving the interaction between user equipment and the base station. The following descriptions will focus on both the user equipment side and the base station side.

[0056] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 As shown, the method of this embodiment is executed by the user equipment and includes steps S11 to S13.

[0057] In step S11, the MAC CE sent by the base station is received. The MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field. The first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups. The second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

[0058] In step S13, uplink timing adjustment information for one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups is saved.

[0059] After receiving a signaling instruction from the network instructing the UE to perform early uplink synchronization, the UE performs PRACH transmission based on the candidate cell ID information and reserved Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resources included in the signaling instruction. The network provides uplink timing adjustment information to the UE via MAC CE. This uplink timing adjustment information is used to adjust the timing of uplink data transmission by the UE, ensuring that uplink signals from different UEs are essentially synchronized upon arrival at the base station, thereby avoiding interference between signals. In some embodiments, the uplink timing adjustment information includes an index value for uplink timing advance (TA).

[0060] In some embodiments, the MAC CE indicates uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells through the correlation between a first indication field and a second indication field. Specifically, the first indication field is used to provide the user equipment with information about candidate cells or candidate cell groups, such as the identifier of a candidate cell or the identifier of a candidate cell group. In some embodiments, at least one of the identifiers of the candidate cells and the candidate cell groups is configured by the network side via RRC signaling. The second indication field is used to provide the user equipment with the uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cells or candidate cell groups provided by the first indication field.

[0061] After receiving uplink timing adjustment information from one or more candidate cells or groups of candidate cells, the user equipment (UE) saves it. When it is determined that the handover execution conditions are met, if the target cell has valid uplink timing adjustment information, a RACH-LESS handover procedure is executed, thereby reducing handover latency. A candidate cell refers to a cell configured by the network side for the UE to perform handover. The one or more candidate cells included in the first message can be a subset or all of the candidate cells configured by the network side for the UE.

[0062] Considering that in actual deployments, multiple candidate cells may be located at the same base station or belong to the same frequency, and the UE shares the same uplink timing adjustment information for these candidate cells, the concept of candidate cell groups is introduced to reduce the frequency with which the UE obtains uplink timing adjustment information from candidate cells, save network-reserved PRACH resources, and reduce signaling interactions. Candidate cells within the same candidate cell group share uplink timing adjustment information. That is, each candidate cell group includes multiple candidate cells, and these multiple candidate cells have the same uplink timing adjustment information as the candidate cell group.

[0063] By setting up candidate cell groups, the UE only needs to perform an uplink synchronization process in advance for any candidate cell within the candidate cell group. After obtaining uplink timing adjustment information through the first message sent by the network side, the UE can associate this uplink timing adjustment information with any candidate cell within the candidate cell group. This reduces the number of times the UE needs to perform uplink synchronization in advance, saves UE power consumption, and reduces network resource reservation and signaling overhead. The network side can configure the candidate cell group corresponding to the candidate cell through RRC signaling.

[0064] The first indication field can indicate uplink timing adjustment information for one candidate cell or one candidate cell group, or it can indicate uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups. When the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for one candidate cell or one candidate cell group, the MAC CE is of fixed length. When the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups, the MAC CE is of variable length. The length of the MAC CE is indicated by the relevant indication field in the MAC header.

[0065] For example, if a user equipment performs an uplink synchronization process for multiple candidate cells within a certain period of time, the base station can send multiple MAC CEs to the user. Each MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for one candidate cell or one candidate cell group. Alternatively, the base station can send one or more MAC CEs to the user. Each MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups. This can reduce signaling overhead and improve handover efficiency.

[0066] The first indication domain can determine candidate cells or candidate cell groups in a variety of ways. This disclosure exemplarily illustrates three methods, which are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0067] Method 1: The first indication field is used to determine the identifier of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups corresponding to the second indication field.

[0068] Figure 2 The MAC CE format of some embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the field containing "ID" information is the first indication field, and the field containing "timed advance command field" information is the second indication field. Figure 2 The MAC CE in the example occupies 2 bytes, or two octets (Octets), namely Oct1 and Oct2. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 2 As shown.

[0069] The first indication field includes indication information for a candidate cell or a candidate cell group, based on which the identifier (ID) of a candidate cell or candidate cell group can be determined. There may be a correspondence between this indication information and the identifier of the candidate cell or candidate cell group. For example, the indication information may be a value, based on which the identifier of a candidate cell or candidate cell group can be determined. For example, the value added to a first specified value equals the identifier of a candidate cell or candidate cell group. The first specified value can be set to 1. Alternatively, the first indication field may directly include the ID of the candidate cell or candidate cell group.

[0070] The second indication field includes the field corresponding to a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells indicated by the first indication field. This field carries the uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cell or the group of candidate cells. This field may be named the timing advance command field or any other name. This disclosure does not limit the naming of this field.

[0071] Figure 3 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or groups of candidate cells. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the field containing the information "ID_1, ID_2, ..., ID_M (M is a positive integer)" is the first indicator field, and the field containing the information "Timing Advance Command Field_1, Timing Advance Command Field_2, ..., Timing Advance Command Field_M" is the second indicator field. Figure 3 The MAC CE in the example occupies 2M bytes, namely Oct1, Oct2, ..., Oct2M. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 3 As shown.

[0072] That is, the first indication field includes indication information for M candidate cells or candidate cell groups, and the identifiers of the M candidate cells or candidate cell groups can be determined based on this indication information. There can be a correspondence between the indication information and the identifiers of the M candidate cells or M candidate cell groups. For example, the indication information includes M values. For each of these M values, the identifier of a candidate cell or a candidate cell group can be determined based on that value. For example, the value plus a second specified value equals the identifier of a candidate cell or a candidate cell group. The second specified value can be set to 1. Alternatively, the first indication field may directly include the IDs of these candidate cells or candidate cell groups.

[0073] The second indication field includes a timing advance command field corresponding to each of the M candidate cells or candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field. The timing advance command fields in the second indication field are arranged sequentially, for example, according to the order of the candidate cells or candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field. The timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to the candidate cells or candidate cell groups.

[0074] In Method 1, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment. For example, assuming the maximum number is N, the number of bits occupied by each candidate cell or each candidate cell group in the first indication field within one or more candidate cells or candidate cell groups is... . Figure 2 and Figure 3Taking a maximum of 8 as an example, each candidate cell or candidate cell group occupies 3 bits in the first indicator field. Each candidate cell or candidate cell group occupies 12 bits in the second indicator field.

[0075] In Method 1, the first indication field directly indicates the identifier of the candidate cell or candidate cell group, and each candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponds to an independent timing advance command field in the second indication field. This indication method is simple, direct, and easy to configure.

[0076] Method 2: The first indication field uses a bitmap to indicate that the second indication field carries uplink timing adjustment information for one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0077] Figure 4 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells. For example... Figure 4 As shown, including bitmap " , The field containing the information is the first indication field, and the field containing the "timed advance command field" information is the second indication field. Figure 4 The MAC CE in the example occupies 3 bytes, namely Oct1, Oct2, and Oct3. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 4 As shown.

[0078] Each bit in the bitmap of the first indicator field corresponds to an identifier for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell among multiple candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell group among multiple candidate groups. For example, In the case of i (i = 1, 2, 3…M, where M is a positive integer), Figure 4 For example, setting M=8 directly indicates the identifier of the candidate cell or candidate cell group, or indicates the i-th candidate cell after all the candidate cells configured by the current UE are arranged in a specified order (such as ascending or descending), or indicates the i-th candidate cell group after all the candidate cell groups configured by the current UE are arranged in a specified order (such as ascending or descending).

[0079] The second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to bits in the bitmap that have a first value. For example, if the first value is set to 1, the second indication field includes... The corresponding candidate cell or candidate cell group's timing advance command field carries the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to that candidate cell or candidate cell group. For example... This corresponds to the timing advance command field for candidate cell i, or the i-th candidate cell or the i-th candidate cell group. Simultaneously, the following settings can be configured: At that time, the second indicator field does not include The corresponding candidate cells.

[0080] In some embodiments, in the bitmap, when the value of a certain bit is a first value, the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to that bit. When the value of a certain bit is not the first value, the second indication field does not include uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to that bit.

[0081] Figure 5 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or groups of candidate cells. For example... Figure 5 As shown, including bitmap " , The information field is the first indication field, including "Timing Advance Command Field_1, Timing Advance Command Field_2, ..., Timing Advance Command Field_P". The information field is the second indication field. Figure 5 The MAC CE in the example occupies P+1 bytes, namely Oct1, Oct2, ..., OctP+1. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 5 As shown.

[0082] and Figure 4 Similarly, each bit in the bitmap of the first indication field corresponds to an identifier for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell among multiple candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a group of candidate cells among multiple group of candidate cells. In the case of i (i = 1, 2, 3…M, where M is a positive integer), Figure 5 Similarly, M=8 is set as an example. ~ In, there is P ( The first value is P bits (where P is a positive integer). The second indicator field includes the uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to these P bits. For example... Figure 5 As shown, in the bitmap, each bit with a value of the first value corresponds to a timing advance command field of the second indicator field. The timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to the bit.

[0083] Figure 6 The MAC CE format of some other embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or groups of candidate cells. For example... Figure 6 As shown, including bitmap " , The information field is the first indication field, including "Timing Advance Command Field_1, Timing Advance Command Field_2, ..., Timing Advance Command Field_T". The information field is the second indication field. Figure 6 The MAC CE in the example occupies 3T bytes, namely Oct1, Oct2, ..., Oct3T. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 6 As shown.

[0084] exist Figure 6 In this context, multiple candidate cells or candidate cell groups share uplink timing adjustment information. In the bitmap, multiple bits with the first value correspond to the same timing advance command field in the second indicator field. The timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to these multiple bits. By assigning multiple candidate cells or candidate cell groups with the same uplink timing adjustment information to the same timing advance command field in the second indicator field, the simplicity of MAC CE content can be improved. For example, the first timing advance command field could correspond to... , Wait, the second timing advance command field corresponds to The third timed advance command field corresponds to... , wait.

[0085] In Method 2, the number of bits occupied by the first indicator field is determined based on the number of bitmaps included in the first indicator field and the maximum number of bitmaps. For example, when the number of bitmaps is Q (Q is a positive integer) and the maximum number is N, the number of bits occupied by the first indicator field is QP. Figures 4-6 Taking the maximum number of 8 as an example, Figure 4 and Figure 5 The first indicator field occupies 8 bits. Figure 6 The number of median plots is in T ( , (The first indicator field occupies 8T bits, where each candidate cell or candidate cell group occupies 12 bits in the second indicator field.)

[0086] In Method 2, the first indication field indicates the identifier of the candidate cell or candidate cell group using a bitmap. Each candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponds to a timing advance command field in the second indication field. Alternatively, multiple candidate cells or candidate cell groups can correspond to the same timing advance command field. This indication method makes the indication simpler.

[0087] Method 3: The value of the first indication field is associated with the candidate cell or candidate cell group indicated in the most recently received message for early uplink synchronization by the user equipment. That is, the MAC CE does not contain the indication field of candidate cells. After receiving the MAC CE, the UE automatically associates the uplink timing adjustment information included in the MAC CE with the candidate cell or candidate cell group indicated in the most recently received message for early uplink synchronization.

[0088] When the first indication field includes a second value, the second value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells; when the first indication field includes a third value, the third value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for the serving cell.

[0089] Figure 7 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. The MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells. For example... Figure 7 As shown, the field containing "1 or 0" information is the first indication field, and the field containing "timing advance command field" information is the second indication field. Figure 7 The MAC CE in the example occupies 2 bytes, namely Oct1 and Oct2. Each byte includes information such as... Figure 7 As shown. For example, when the first indication field includes 1, the second value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group; when the first indication field includes 0, the third value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0090] In Method 3, the MAC CE for the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group and the serving cell can share a single Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) through the first indication field, which effectively saves LCID resources and ensures compatibility with standard evolution.

[0091] When the second value indicates that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a candidate cell group, the uplink timing adjustment information for the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field corresponds to the candidate cell or the candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs, indicated in the most recently received message for early uplink synchronization by the user equipment. In some embodiments, the message for early uplink synchronization includes downlink control information (e.g., DCI format 1_0) sent by the network side, and the cell indication field in the downlink control information includes the candidate cell or the candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

[0092] In some embodiments, when the first indication field includes a fourth value, the fourth value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell. For example, if the fourth value is a reservation bit (R), and the first indication field is a reservation bit (R), the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0093] When the first indication field includes a 1, the second indication field includes a timing advance command field for the candidate cell or candidate cell group. When the first indication field includes a 0 or a reserved bit (R), the second indication field includes a timing advance command field for the serving cell's timing adjustment. That is, this disclosure does not limit the type of the first indication field. The first indication field can be a field used to indicate CLTM, or it can be a reserved field. The timing advance command field for the candidate cell or candidate cell group in the second indication field occupies 12 bits.

[0094] Alternatively, a new LCID or eLCID can be introduced to identify whether the MAC CE is used to indicate uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups. In this case, the MAC CE may only contain the second indication field, and the UE can determine whether the MAC CE is used to indicate uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells by taking the LCID or eLCID value in the MAC subheader.

[0095] In some embodiments, the MAC CE also includes a fourth indication field for byte alignment. For example... Figures 2-6 As shown, the MAC CE includes multiple fourth indication fields with a value of R. These fourth indication fields allow the MAC CE to occupy specified bytes, enabling flexible indication of uplink timing adjustment information and saving signaling overhead.

[0096] If a candidate cell or candidate cell group is configured with multiple TAGs, the MAC CE also includes an indication field for indicating that different beams of a single candidate cell or candidate cell group have different TAs. In some embodiments, when a candidate cell or candidate cell group has multiple TAGs, the MAC CE also includes a third indication field for indicating the TAG information to which the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field applies.

[0097] Figure 8 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Figure 8 It shows in Figure 7 The format of the MAC CE is shown when the candidate cell or candidate cell group in the MAC CE has multiple tags. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the field including "TI" information is the third indication field, used to indicate the TAG information applicable to the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field. That is, using... Figure 7The original fourth indicator field is used as the third indicator field.

[0098] Figure 9 The MAC CE format according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Figure 9 It shows in Figure 2 The format of the MAC CE is shown when the candidate cell or candidate cell group in the MAC CE has multiple tags. For example... Figure 9 As shown, the field including "TI" information is the third indication field, used to indicate the TAG information applicable to the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field. That is, using... Figure 2 The original position of the fourth indicator field is used as the third indicator field. For example... Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, this disclosure uses a single candidate cell or candidate cell group with two TAGs as an example, where the third indicator field occupies 1 bit. Whether a candidate cell or candidate cell group is configured with multiple TAGs is configured by RRC signaling.

[0099] In the communication method disclosed herein, the base station sends a MAC CE to the user equipment, and instructs the user equipment on uplink timing adjustment information of candidate cells through the correlation between the first indication field and the second indication field in the MAC CE. This enables the user equipment to receive uplink timing adjustment information of candidate cells during autonomous handover scenarios. Furthermore, this disclosure provides multiple MAC CE formats, enabling various implementation schemes for instructing uplink timing adjustment information during autonomous handover by the user equipment.

[0100] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating a communication method according to other embodiments of this disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 10 As shown, the communication method in this embodiment is executed by the base station and includes step S101.

[0101] In step S101, a MAC CE is sent to the user equipment. The MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field. The first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups. The second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

[0102] In the communication method disclosed herein, the base station sends a MAC CE to the user equipment and indicates the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell to the user equipment through the correlation between the first indication field and the second indication field in the MAC CE, thereby providing the user with the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell in the scenario where the user equipment performs handover autonomously.

[0103] Figure 11A schematic diagram of the structure of a user equipment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 11 As shown, the user equipment 11 in this embodiment includes: a receiving module 111, configured to receive a MAC CE sent by a base station, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field; and a storage module 112, configured to store the uplink timing adjustment information of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0104] In some embodiments, the first indication field is used to determine the identifier of one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups corresponding to the second indication field.

[0105] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

[0106] In some embodiments, the maximum number is N, and in one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, the number of bits occupied by each candidate cell or each candidate cell group in the first indication field is: .

[0107] In some embodiments, the first indication field indicates via a bitmap that the second indication field carries uplink timing adjustment information for one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups.

[0108] In some embodiments, the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to bits in the bitmap that have a first value.

[0109] In some embodiments, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to an identifier for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell among multiple candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a group of candidate cells among multiple group of candidate cells.

[0110] In some embodiments, in the bitmap, each bit with a first value corresponds to a timing advance command field of the second indication field, and the timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to the bit.

[0111] In some embodiments, in the bitmap, multiple bits with a first value correspond to the same timing advance command field of the second indication field, and the timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups corresponding to the multiple bits.

[0112] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

[0113] In some embodiments, the number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the number of bitmaps included in the first indication field and the maximum number of bitmaps.

[0114] In some embodiments, when the first indication field includes a second value, the second value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of a candidate cell or a candidate cell group; when the first indication field includes a third value, the third value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0115] In some embodiments, when the first indication field includes a fourth value, the fourth value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

[0116] In some embodiments, when the second value indicates that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups, the uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups included in the second indication field corresponds to the candidate cell or candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs, indicated in the message most recently received by the user equipment for early uplink synchronization.

[0117] In some embodiments, the message used for early uplink synchronization includes downlink control information sent by the network side, and the cell indication field in the downlink control information includes a candidate cell or a candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

[0118] In some embodiments, when a candidate cell or candidate cell group has multiple TAGs, the MAC CE further includes a third indication field for indicating the TAG information to which the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field applies.

[0119] In some embodiments, the uplink timing adjustment information includes an index value for the uplink timing advance.

[0120] In some embodiments, the MAC CE also includes a fourth indication field for byte alignment.

[0121] In some embodiments, each candidate cell group includes multiple candidate cells, and the multiple candidate cells have the same uplink timing adjustment information as the candidate cell group.

[0122] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a candidate cell group, the MAC CE is of fixed length; or when the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups, the MAC CE is of variable length.

[0123] In some embodiments, at least one of the identifiers of candidate cells and candidate cell groups is configured by the network side via RRC signaling.

[0124] The base station sends a MAC CE to the user equipment and indicates the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell to the user equipment through the correlation between the first indication field and the second indication field in the MAC CE. This enables the user equipment to receive uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell in the scenario where the user equipment performs handover autonomously.

[0125] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of the structure of a base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 12 As shown, the base station 12 in this embodiment includes: a transmission module 1221, configured to transmit a MAC CE to a user equipment, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

[0126] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 13 As shown, the communication system 13 of this embodiment includes: the user equipment 11 as described above and the base station 12 as described above. The user equipment or base station in the embodiments of this disclosure can each be implemented by various computing devices or computer systems, as described below. Figure 14 as well as Figure 15 Describe it.

[0127] Figure 14 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 14 As shown, the electronic device 14 of this embodiment includes a memory 141 and a processor 142 coupled to the memory 141. The processor 142 is configured to execute the communication methods in any of the embodiments of this disclosure based on instructions stored in the memory 141. The memory 141 may include, for example, system memory, a fixed non-volatile storage medium, etc. The system memory may store, for example, an operating system, application programs, a boot loader, a database, and other programs.

[0128] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For example... Figure 15 As shown, the electronic device 15 of this embodiment includes a memory 151 and a processor 152, which are similar to memory 141 and processor 142, respectively. It may also include an input / output interface 153, a network interface 154, a storage interface 155, etc. These interfaces 153, 154, 155, and the memory 151 and processor 152 can be connected, for example, via a bus 156. The input / output interface 153 provides a connection interface for input / output devices such as a display, mouse, keyboard, and touchscreen. The network interface 154 provides a connection interface for various networked devices, such as connecting to a database server or cloud storage server. The storage interface 155 provides a connection interface for external storage devices such as SD cards and USB flash drives.

[0129] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, characterized in that the program, when executed by a processor, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods. Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform any of the aforementioned communication methods.

[0130] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this disclosure can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this disclosure can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code. This disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create a machine for implementing the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The functions specified in one or more boxes. These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0131] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of this disclosure and is not intended to limit this disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this disclosure should be included within the protection scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A communication method, executed by a user equipment, comprising: The MAC CE sent by the base station is received, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field; Save the uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein, The first indication field is used to determine the identifier of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups corresponding to the second indication field.

3. The communication method according to claim 2, wherein, The number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

4. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein, The maximum number is N, and in the one or more candidate cells, or one or more candidate cell groups, the number of bits occupied by each candidate cell or each candidate cell group in the first indication field is: .

5. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein, The first indication field indicates, via a bitmap, that the second indication field carries uplink timing adjustment information for the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups.

6. The communication method according to claim 5, wherein, The second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups corresponding to bits in the bitmap that have a first value.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein, Each bit in the bitmap corresponds to an identifier for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a candidate cell among multiple candidate cells, or an identifier for the order of a group of candidate cells among multiple group of candidate cells.

8. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein, In the bitmap, each bit with the value of the first value corresponds to a timing advance command field of the second indication field, and the timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group corresponding to the bit.

9. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein, In the bitmap, multiple bits with the first value correspond to the same timing advance command field of the second indication field, and the timing advance command field carries uplink timing adjustment information of multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups corresponding to the multiple bits.

10. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein, The number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the maximum number of candidate cells or candidate cell groups that the network side can configure for the user equipment.

11. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein, The number of bits occupied by the first indication field is determined based on the number of bitmaps included in the first indication field and the maximum number.

12. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein: When the first indication field includes a second value, the second value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups; When the first indication field includes a third value, the third value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

13. The communication method according to claim 12, wherein: When the first indication field includes a fourth value, the fourth value is used to indicate that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the serving cell.

14. The communication method according to claim 12, wherein, When the second value indicates that the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups, the uplink timing adjustment information for candidate cells or candidate cell groups included in the second indication field corresponds to the candidate cell indicated in the message most recently received by the user equipment for early uplink synchronization, or the candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

15. The communication method according to claim 14, wherein the message for performing early uplink synchronization includes downlink control information sent by the network side, and the cell indication field in the downlink control information includes a candidate cell or a candidate cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

16. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, When the candidate cell or the candidate cell group has multiple timing advance group TAGs, the MAC CE further includes a third indication field for indicating the TAG information applicable to the uplink timing adjustment information of the candidate cell or candidate cell group included in the second indication field.

17. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, The uplink timing adjustment information includes the index value of the uplink timing advance.

18. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, The MAC CE also includes a fourth indication field for byte alignment.

19. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, Each candidate cell group includes multiple candidate cells, and the multiple candidate cells have the same uplink timing adjustment information as the candidate cell group.

20. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, When the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for a candidate cell or a group of candidate cells, the MAC CE is of fixed length; or When the MAC CE includes uplink timing adjustment information for multiple candidate cells or multiple candidate cell groups, the MAC CE is of variable length.

21. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein, At least one of the identifiers of the candidate cells and the candidate cell groups is configured by the network side via RRC signaling.

22. A communication method, executed by a base station, comprising: Send a MAC CE to the user equipment, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

23. A user equipment, comprising: The receiving module is configured to receive a MAC CE sent by a base station, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field. The storage module is configured to store the uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or the one or more candidate cell groups.

24. A base station, comprising: The transmitting module is configured to transmit a MAC CE to a user equipment, wherein the MAC CE includes a first indication field and a second indication field, the first indication field is used to determine one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups, and the second indication field includes uplink timing adjustment information of the one or more candidate cells or one or more candidate cell groups indicated by the first indication field.

25. A communication system, comprising: The user equipment as described in claim 23; as well as The base station as described in claim 24.

26. An electronic device, comprising: processor; as well as A memory coupled to the processor is used to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

27. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein, When the program is executed by the processor, it implements the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

28. A computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

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